The need for reform has been given added urgency by the rapidly approaching deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals which make up the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, created to set out measurable targets for building a better future by the end of the decade.

The UN General Assembly has declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and proclaimed 21 March of each year the World Day for Glaciers. 

The WMO Secretary-General also noted the potential of new technologies such as “digital twin” – which creates a virtual replica of a physical object – and virtual reality – which offers immersive simulated environments – to help achieve universally agreed Sustainable Development Goals and enhance disaster preparedness.

It also drives forced migration. If people can no longer produce food on their land then they will migrate. As we have seen for example in the Sahel or Haiti, there can be severe consequences for global security. When people fight over access to land and water, it leads to more conflicts. We are seeing more of this, and it has consequences on the homogeneity of communities and on national economies.

© ADB/Narendra Shrestha Students attend a computer class at a secondary school in Kailali,…

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